Potsdam business incubator aims to turn ideas into investment

POTSDAM  At Peyton Hall, on Main Street the windows glow purple, the sound of machinery echoes through the corridors, and a wide collection of innovators, entrepreneurs and startups work on the ideas they hope will make their name.

The Peyton Hall Business Incubator opened in 2011, operated by Clarkson Universitys Shipley Center for Innovation.

The incubator provides office and workshop space for start-up businesses, with a focus on technology and innovation. It houses 23 businesses right now, about three-quarters of its total capacity.

Some are run by Clarkson students, others by local entrepreneurs, and a few by interested parties who came from out-of-state. They work on a wide variety of ideas: from military applications to aeroponic agriculture.

Some do their work behind closed doors, the windows papered over, carefully hiding their progress from curious onlookers.

Now that the incubator has been up and running for two years, the pressure for success is growing for some of its earliest tenants.

The provided offices are not meant to be a permanent home for startups, but rather a place for eager innovators to test their ideas and find some funding before striking out on their own.

After two to five years in Peyton Hall, businesses are expected to leave the nest, whether or not theyve found success.

We will kick them out, Mr. Draper said.

Nine out of 10 startups fail on average, according to Mr. Draper. The incubator hopes for a higher success rate by being more selective about which businesses get investment from the Shipley Center and space in Peyton Hall.

There are ideas that get kicked out before they even get here, Mr. Draper said, recounting the story of a group that spent three months working on their idea for an electronic tablet before the Shipley Center decided it wouldnt work.

He said the target is three successes for every 10 startups in the incubator.

Healthy Breathing LLC hopes to be counted among the triumphs. The three-man team is working on an inconspicuous, wearable device that can monitor a persons breathing and send data to a smartphone app.

The incubator is not meant to be a money-making enterprise for Clarkson, but Mr. Draper said it should eventually be self-sustaining, bringing in returns on investments in successful startups.

Ultimately the market decides, he said.

The incubator allows companies to try, fail, and try again in privacy, away from the buzz of technology hotspots like Silicon Valley, according to Mr. Draper.

It allows them to test things out and not end up on the front page of the New York Times tomorrow if they mess up, he said.

Renoun Ski Company, one of Peyton Halls first tenants, knows plenty about failure.

The company was started by a group of Clarkson dorm-mates with a shared love of skiing.

We had the know-how for the skis, but when we went to the Shipley Center they did pretty much all the business stuff for us, said co-founder Cameron Jones.

Mr. Jones and his partner, Cyrus K. Schenck, plan to create custom skis, made with special adaptive material unlike anything else on the market. Their early efforts were marked with plenty of trial and error. Their first model was dubbed the brick because of its inflexibility.

However, by now they have found a design that works, and the funding is coming in. They hope that by next year they will be counted among Peyton Halls first success stories.

We may end up moving at the end of the year to an actual office, Mr. Jones said, indicating Burlington, Vt., as a possible location.

Mr. Draper said he hopes the Shipley Centers resources and the resources available locally will lead some of the incubators successes to stay in the north country permanently. He envisions the region as a center for invention and job growth, and he hopes state government will soon see things the same way.

In May, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a search for Innovation Hot Spots, several business incubators statewide that will be deemed worthy to receive state funding and support.

Peyton Hall has submitted its application for consideration.

Bringing investment to the north country is all part of the plan, according to Mr. Draper.

If they dont want to stay here we didnt do our job, he said.

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